Registering a domain name?

[MoneyGuy]

What's the best way to register a .ca domain name? I searched and found many options. Any advice on which one to use or to avoid?

Then I want to create a basic webpage and WordPress seems to be the best option. I want to be able to post articles, a couple of photos, basic stuff like that. Any advice on that?

Thank you for any suggestions.

[sworkhard]

I use netfirms.ca for my .ca domain names. Never had a problem with them so far.

Wordpress, while not the easiest platform to use, is by far the most popular website platform on the web, which is reason enough to use them.

If you decide to go with wordpress, the simplest way to handle it is probably to just sign up for the personal plan at wordpress.com. Edit: this plan includes the domain for free. Using a separate domain name registrar is more if you want to make sure that you can switch hosts without having your domain getting held hostage by having the host and domain with the same company.

[Rathji]

You can likely find a host that will give you a domain name for free if you sign up for a year of hosting.

Hostpapa is a fairly affordable option, as is iPage. I don't really know of many others or how they compare to those 2, but I occasionally set up WordPress sites on the side and have recently used both of those just because that is where they were currently hosted.

Edit:
I will also add that if you are asking these questions, WordPress is going to be your best bet. I normally just use a premium theme, like Avada, which gives you a ton of pre-made page formats and is easy to tweak to suit the look you are going for.

If you want some examples of the range it has send me a PM.


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[photon]

https://cira.ca/get-your-ca-domain will give suggestions for registrars to register the domain name.

In the past I wouldn't have recommended using the "free domain name with hosting" options as I've had problems transferring domain names away from such things later when I wanted to change the hosting. But I don't know if that's still an issue these days, I just like "separation of concerns" and would keep the domain registration and the hosting separate.

Depending on what the site is for, I'd also suggest getting a starter level package from Wordpress.com.

Crocweb is another hosting provider I've used and have had good experience with.

[getbak]

You can register a domain directly with WordPress if you sign up for their premium account. The only issue is that you can't register a .ca with them. You can do other top level domains like .com if you can find an available name.

[Stealth22]

Originally Posted by photon

https://cira.ca/get-your-ca-domain will give suggestions for registrars to register the domain name.

In the past I wouldn't have recommended using the "free domain name with hosting" options as I've had problems transferring domain names away from such things later when I wanted to change the hosting. But I don't know if that's still an issue these days, I just like "separation of concerns" and would keep the domain registration and the hosting separate.

Depending on what the site is for, I'd also suggest getting a starter level package from Wordpress.com.

Crocweb is another hosting provider I've used and have had good experience with.

I've had the same experience. Those 'free domain' offers are nice, but many are only for one year. Even if they offer a lifetime free domain, it's only for as long as you stay with that provider. And transferring domains away from such providers is a real pain.

I've had great experience with namespro.ca. Their support is great, and their control panel offers a lot of flexibility if you want to add custom DNS records and such.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I've always used Godaddy for registering my domains and have been completely happy with them. I probably have around 50 domains with them now.

I use Bluehost for hosting my wordpress sites and they are good hosts.

Make sure you understand the distinction between wordpress.com and wordpress.org before you sign up for a wordpress site.

[photon]

Bluehost I've also had good experience with for hosting, but had some bad experiences with their email.

[Fuzz]

Whatever you do, do not go with Network Solutions.

[Kipper is King]

There's more of a learning curve with Wordpress than Wix, Squarespace and the like, but Wordpress is really capable once you get into it.

[Torture]

I just went through the same process and did a lot of research. I'm somewhat tech savy but don't have any experience with domains, etc. Knew I wanted a Wordpress.org install and wanted something affordable and beginner friendly, but something that would be good enough to grow into.

Read a lot of reviews saying to stay away from anything owned by Endurance International Group which is snapping everybody up and turning them into ####. (Includes Hostgator, Bluehost, etc) https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneu...hat_have_been/

Ended up registering the domain with Name Silo and hosting with Siteground (that's a referral link, feel free to ignore, or use)/

[MoneyGuy]

OK, I've read all of the advice so thank you to everyone who has replied. I'm not tech savvy so will probably struggle with this. I wanted to do this myself but now I'm wondering if I can. I may have to find someone to do this for me. I think I'll look at some of the sites recommended here on the weekend to see if I can figure this out.